Steve Bruce to field an unchanged XI – Strongest 4-4-1-1 Aston Villa lineup to face Wolverhampton Wanderers

Steve Bruce to field an unchanged XI – Strongest 4-4-1-1 Aston Villa lineup to face Wolverhampton Wanderers

After scoring 7 goals in 2 away games, albeit against struggling sides, Aston Villa are getting the job done right now. In fact, they are firmly set in the third place and stand a good chance of reaping the benefits of automatic promotion.

Their 3-0 win at Sunderland was, as predicted here, fairly simple and they should not have been exerted too much before their crunch game with Wolverhampton Wanderers over the weekend.

This has everything; local derby, promotion battle, the home team on a roll while the better fancied away team has slightly struggled in recent games. Thus, the crowd at Villa may actually be full this time for what could be a cracker.

Team News

Villa remain without Alan Hutton and Jonathan Kodjia while Wolves will welcome Ruben Neves back, so this will be tough. Steve Bruce may well stick with the same XI and same 4-4-1-1 formation which did the job easily at Sunderland.

Predicted Aston Villa XI

Manager: Steve Bruce

Formation: 4-4-1-1

GK – Sam Johnstone

The young keeper remains on loan from Manchester United but should Villa get promoted, he might be brought in permanently.

RB – Ahmed Elmohamady

The former Hull and Sunderland man has stuck with Steve Bruce on a long-term basis and is a shoo-in for a starting spot.

CB – James Chester

A goalscorer at Sunderland and bound to start again at the back.

CB – John Terry

Doesn’t bring pace and youth but does bring about a lot of experience and success, which is expected from a player at this level.

LB – Neil Taylor

Hutton is a miss but frankly, he should be playing at right-back instead of Elmohamady. Regardless, Taylor would be the natural choice for this position in any event.

RM – Robert Snodgrass

Like Terry, Snodgrass brings proper top-level quality to the side and will definitely play this one.

CM – Glenn Whelan

Mile Jedinak came on in midweek and will be pushing for a start. However, Whelan remains in good form and should start again.

CM – Conor Hourihane

Villa’s best attacking option from the centre of the field.

LM – Albert Adomah

Good to see the wide man back in the side and he has the ability to cause Wolves problems down the right.

SS – Lewis Grabban

All of a sudden, Grabban has been one of the best players in the league this season and once again will be vital to the cause.

ST – Scott Hogan

Another one of the withdrawals in midweek, probably simply to conserve his energy for this one. However, he is bound to start again.